Database Reference
In-Depth Information
NOTE
This match-the-beginning mode of operation may seem odd, but it's surprisingly useful. Imagine
you're looking for someone named Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina in your database. Of course,
you could find the record by typing the full name, but chances are you'll get the same results if you
search for
Gio Pal
instead. Since Giovanni starts with Gio and Palestrina starts with Pal, FileMaker
finds him with this abbreviated request, saving you from all that typing—and from remembering
how to spell the full name.
How do you tell FileMaker that you're seeking the term “for”
wherever
it appears in a word,
not just at the beginning? You can use a special
operator
—a character that has special mean-
ing in a Find request—to stand for part of a word.
The Insert Operators pop-up menu, which appears in the Status toolbar when you're in Find
mode, lets you add these special characters to your searches, thus gaining more control over
FileMaker's decision-making process when it's looking for records (
Figure 2-6
).
